Choosing the Right Meat for Your Grill

It's that time again! As temperatures start to climb for the summer, it is time to break in the grill! Find out what to consider when choosing the perfect meat for your grill. 

This is the first part of our series of articles where we'll address choosing the right meat for your meal. For the best grilling experience, you need a strong foundation. Without high quality meat, you can spice your meat as well as you want and it still won't taste as good as better quality.  

In short, it's true that you can grill any kind of meat you want. Which type you of meat you prefer, whether pork, beef, veal or poultry is a matter of personal taste.

Here are a few things you should consider when choosing your meat.

  • Find a butcher you can trust for a great quality and selection of meat. 

  • Buy only high quality meat. The surface of the cut meat should be dry and light colored. When the meat is pale and sticky or leaking a considerable amount of meat, this is evidence of poor quality.

  • Color is also important. Beef should be a deep red, pork a strong pink, veal a light pink and lamb light red. 

  • Buy only finely marbled meat. If the meat is lightly marbled, (steaks too!) it is traversed by fine fat fibers, which are important for juiciness and taste. Do not worry: the fine fat fibers disappear during grilling but the taste remains.

  • Ensure that poultry, veal and pork are fresh. Beef and lamb on the other hand should be well matured. It should be pleasantly soft and have the best taste. Just ask for the maturity of the meat when you buy it.

  • Meat MUST be always cut against the grain. Only then will it really become tender when grilling.

  • Do not cut the meat too thin. Meat should always be at least finger thick, otherwise it will be bone dry when grilling.

You can now buy cuts of fresh meat from Piccantino. New for our customers from Austria: fresh shipping with Almo and Zotter. Now you can order fresh meat directly from the producer in top quality. Within 24 hours a cool box will be delivered to your home. It's simple and easy!  

In the next article, we'll discuss how to marinate meat!